Archive for 'Ippudo Midtown'

One of my biggest issues with ramen places like Ippudo and Totto Ramen is that they never let me take the food to go. No doggie bags and no to go orders. So to experience one of those places at prime time, you had no choice but to wait in line and sit at their bar and who has time for that??

The specialty here will be ramens made with a “tori paitan” base which is a creamy chicken broth. There will be add-ons like Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, basil, and thick-cut bacon. And unlike at other Ippudo locations, you can take the soups to-go here.

This is actually the second location of Kuro-Obi, the first being in Times Square’s City Kitchen. It is due to open sometime this week and when I stopped by over the weekend, the stall looked finished and ready to go. Let’s get to slurping!

During our first look at Ippudo Westside last July, we mentioned that Ippudo would be offering vegetarian options in the future, and the day has finally come! In the main dining room (not the secret upstairs, we had mentioned back in July), Ippudo Westside is now offering hot and cold special “Shojin” ramen ($18) made with koshihikari rice noodles. According to the Tasting Table, the shojin ramen, which is also gluten-free, contains gentler flavors including a base-broth composed of soybean and seaweed, and toppings such as Japanese sweet potato, chestnuts, Chinese wolfberry seeds, and a rotating cast of seasonal specials.

Most of us are obviously going to stick with the Akamaru Modern, but for vegetarians or people with celiac this is huge news. If you’ve had a chance to try it, let us know what you think in the comments.

We’ve been waiting a mere two and a half years for this event (remember when Eater dropped the news back in February 2011?), and though it might be 90+ degrees outside, that didn’t stop us from checking out Ippudo’s newest Midtown location, Ippudo Westside. Despite a discouraging first official lunch day this past Monday cut short by an emergency in the kitchen, I returned on Tuesday for an experience that proved to more than make up for my lunchless trip on Monday. Ippudo, we’re glad you’re here in Midtown!

I was so excited to check out Ippudo Westside for it’s first official weekday today. After a weeklong soft opening they had they’re official grand opening this past Saturday, July 13th. Sadly it just wasn’t meant to be today. Assuming it would be crowded as hell today on the first real business day of opening, I got to 321 West 51st at 1:15pm and was super surprised that there was no one to be found. I almost thought I struck gold until I looked closer to see a “Closed” sign. I managed to talk to an employee who said that there was an emergency in the kitchen and technicians had to be called in. The employee said that Ippudo would be closed for at least a couple hours, but would probably be open for dinner tonight.

In anticipation of the grand opening, Ippudo Westside (Ippudo’s newest Midtown location, which we found out last month was opening on July 13th) is now soft open for lunch and dinner! According to the website, they are serving lunch from 11-2pm everyday until the grand opening on Saturday, July 13th. Dedicated ramen lovers, let us know how the lines are and how the menu compares to the East Village!

We told you way back in 2011 that Ippudo would be opening a branch of their super famous ramen shop in Midtown West, and now Village Voice brings word that our dreams will finally be answered next month. Located on 51st btw. 8+9th the Midtown incarnation of the city’s most popular ramen spot had some kind of pre-opening party last night, even though they won’t be officially open to the public until July 13. It looks like the menu will be similar to the East Village location, but the broths will be made with dashi and there will be more Shojin options, as well as New York City’s very first gluten free and vegan bowl of ramen. My guess is we’ll have another amazing ramen spot in Midtown with another ridiculously long line.

Posted by brianhoffman at 1:30 pm, June 20th, 2013 under Ippudo Midtown.

Other potential midtown lunch spots include a “retro soda shop” concept called The Skylight Shoppe at 50th & Madison, which will serve an oysters Rockefeller po’boy. Additionally, Laurent Tourondel, formerly of the BLT group, will be opening an upscale burger joint at 40th & 5th, and will be serving his signature burgers, kobe hot dogs, and boozy milkshakes. In brighter news, it looks like the new Midtown Ippudo is finally set to open in December.

Ramen lovers in Midtown, it looks like the second coming of Ippudo will be much later than originally expected. Last year, we learned that a January opening might be in the works, but one only needs to take a glance at the space to think that Crain’s might have meant January 2013, not ’12. Although I’m certainly not an expert at interpreting these things, the work permit seems to indicate that construction approval was only recently granted on April 18th. I called the East Village location to get more information, but received a “No Comment” from the person that answered the phone.